Library Donates Furniture to Charity

Last year’s renovation of the Douglas D. Schumann Library & Learning Commons brought truckloads of new furniture and technology to the Wentworth campus. But upgrades of that scale always come with a question: What do we do with the old stuff?

The used furniture had to be moved out of the library quickly to keep the renovation on track, so a quick decision had to be made about where to put it. Food for the Poor, a nonprofit organization based in Coconut Creek, Fla., answered the call.

Food for the Poor (FFP) provides food, medicine, shelter, and other services to people of need in Latin America and the Caribbean. After learning that Wentworth had more than 500 pieces of furniture available, FFP jumped at the opportunity.

“I am very happy that the surplus furniture went to a charitable organization like Food for the Poor,” said Kevin Kidd, director of the Douglass D. Schumann Library & Learning Commons. “It would have been a shame if the furniture simply had gone to a landfill.”

The pieces—which include tables, desks, chairs and bookcases—were sent to FFP’s Jamaica warehouse, where they will be stored until they are needed.

Not only does the donation benefit Wentworth and those in need, but the effort also diverted 30,000 pounds of material from being placed in landfills or discarded.

—A.J. Martin